The beautiful Lord
by Kamiko Hanakuro
Summary: A reclusive young Lord, who posesses extraordinary beauty and an equally extraordinary witt turnes Sherlock Holmes upside down.
1. Chapter 1

My first try at a Holmes Story. Though I have been madly in love with Sir Conan Doyle's stories for years, the film has finally forced me to write a fan fiction.

This is the book version of Holmes! NOT Robert Downey Jr.'s depiction! I really hope, I can at least do the original a teeny-tiny-little bit of justice.

Read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except for Lord and Lady Barker and Catherine Calendar!

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From the first moment I laid eyes upon the young Lord Barker, I knew, that Holmes would be fascinated by him.

A young Lady had come to the rooms at Baker Street while I was visiting my good friend. Miss Bishop, a sweet thing, with watery-blue eyes and a shock of unruly blond curls, had taken a fancy in the young Lord Barker. As we understood a wondrously handsome lad, who had been a perfect gentleman up until three days ago. He had escorted her to the opera, both had, evidently enjoyed the evening and then he had insisted to see her home.

Miss Bishop blushed furiously, when she admitted, that she had made advances towards the young Lord, but the pink on her perfect porcelain cheeks vanished quickly, when she told us, that her gentleman had made hasty excuses then and left her, rather abruptly on the porch of her fathers estate. Since that evening, she had seen neither hair or hide from the Lord. When she went to enquire at his estate just outside the city, why he had not even considered her worthy of a reply to her letters, the servants told her, that the Master had gone on a trip.

"Just this morning, Mr Holmes, I drove to his estate again and saw a woman come out the door. I had never seen her before, but she was a beauty, like I had none seen before. She was young, maybe my age and a true Lady, her dress was fashionable and expensive and she bore herself like a noblewoman.", the blue of our clients eyes turned glassy from tears. "I can see, why my dear Lord would rather have such a wonderful creature as her, but what did I do to him to deserve his complete ignorance? I was under the impression, that he had at least some interest in me."

Holmes, as per usual showed only interest in her case, and not the beautiful Miss Bishop herself. He promised her curtly, that he would find her young Lord and bring her some explanation as to his very ungentlemanly manner towards her.

When our client left, Holmes was strangely quiet. Silently he took down a heavy volume from his shelf. "Lord William Barker.", he said, more to himself and flicked through the book. "Ah, see here, I knew, I had heard of him. He is quite the item among the young women in the city. He is the only son of Lord Henry Barker and Lady Elena Barker, both deceased.", he handed me the volume and there was a picture of a very handsome young man. I am seldom pressed to use the word beautiful for a specimen of my own sex, but this young fellow surely deserved this term. His light coloured eyes looked intensely from under long dark lashes and his even face was made very distinct by his high cheekbones and aristocratic nose.

"I can see, why the ladies are so in a deuce of a stir about this man.", said I, studying this interesting face a little while longer. The picture was a portrait, but what could be gathered from it was, that the Lords hair was very dark, that he wore it long and tied at the nape of his neck. His dress was fashionable, but not in the overly lush way of the modern dandies.

"He is quite a sight, is he not?", Holmes remarked, in a far off sort of way, that told me, who knew him so well, that his mind had already fully plunged into the case.

Two days after the encounter with our young client, Holmes send me a telegraph, that ran as follows: "Hope you have no plans for the evening. Would be delighted, if you would extend me the pleasure of your company at tonight's ball. Holmes"

Said ball, as it turned out was a small festivity to which our elusive young Lord had been invited and Holmes hoped to get a glimpse at the man.

"The old Lord Barker had kept his son under tight watch, when he was still alive. The mother died at childbirth.", Holmes elaborated on our drive to the venue. "The boy has retained his fathers reclusive habits, goes out seldom and then only in the company of young Miss Calendar, a charming young thing, but I mean no offence by saying: she does not posses the features to warrant such a praise on her beauty as Miss Bishop has given. So the identity of that mysterious beauty on the premise of the Lord that had our client so reduced to tears is still unclear."

"But he was alone on the outings with Miss Bishop!", reminded I, but Holmes shrugged his bony shoulders and would say no more of the matter.

We arrived at the venue of the ball and Holmes reminded me one more time, that our sole purpose was to take a look at young Lord Barker.

And a good look at the young Lord we would get. And not twenty minutes after we arrived, nonetheless. He was dancing with a red-headed girl, whose pale, freckled skin contrasted nicely against her sky-blue dress. She was pretty, but, as Holmes had said, not an extraordinary beauty. The man however was even more striking in person. I find myself guilty of having rather enjoyed Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Grey, but I always thought, that his description of Dorian Grey himself was rather overdone, now however, I was feeling quite like Basil Hallward, so stricken was I by the Lord's appearance.

The piece the pair was dancing to ended and Barker smiled at his company. It was an infectious smile, that made his partner smile back shyly and rest her pale lashes against her cheek in a coquettish gesture. A group of young girls nearby was whispering behind their feathered fans, throwing jealous glances at the pair.

I, as a doctor could not help but notice the slight stiffness in the lords left leg and the long, silvery scar, that ran from his temple towards the corner of his well shaped mouth. It did not mar his beauty in any way, but indeed added to his interest.

"There he is.", Holmes was speaking from right behind me.

"There he is, indeed.", I answered, turning towards my friend. "And looking quite unperturbed by the fact, that he has probably broken a young lady's heart."

Holmes brows knitted together "I do not think he is quite aware, what he has done to our lovely client.", looking over my shoulder I saw the Lord entertaining a cluster of young Ladies. "He has not quite grasped the effect he has on the people surrounding him.", and with that, the detective stalked away, towards the flock surrounding the point of our investigation. I stayed behind, wondering, what Holmes knew about this young lad, that had him so interested in this otherwise ordinary case? Indeed, I have to admit, that I was very surprised, that he had taken the case at all.

I watched my friend converse with the young Lord for some time, before I engaged in my own conversation with a professor of medicine, who I had met once before. It was three full hours, until Holmes returned to me. "Fascinating creature!", he exclaimed. "Fascinating, indeed. But we will have the sad obligation of telling our client, that the young Lord is not interested in her. Or anyone of the fairer sex for that matter!"

"Holmes!", I exclaimed, shocked, at what he was implying.

"Fascinating!", my colleague replied simply with an appreciative glance towards William Barker, as though he had not just accused the boy of being a sodomite!

"It's quite al right, Watson!", Holmes said happily and motioned for the door. "I am very sure, your wife will already miss your company dearly, so we should head for home.", and yet again, he would say no more of the matter.

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Hope you enjoy, I would LOVE some reviews :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter number two, hope you enjoy. The secret is revealed ... at least to an extend :)

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Sadly, I was called away to a patient the next day, so I can not give a detailed account of the conversation between my friend and our client, but Holmes gave me to understand, with a slightly disturbed attitude, that young Miss Bishop was greatly grieved by the Lords disinterest.

"I just cannot deal with a woman in tears.", Sherlock Holmes admitted when I arrived later that day.

"That was very unspectacular.", said I, rather disappointed by the case.

"Oh, no! Not at all, my dear Watson.", Holmes sat upright in his chair, full of that peculiar energy, that was always conjured up by a mystery. "It is indeed very spectacular!"

I leaned back in my chair, beckoning my friend to go on.

"Yesterday you where very shocked, when I told you, that our young Lord is not at all interested in women.", he began to elaborate.

"It is very dangerous to talk about such improprieties. Just a rumour could ruin Lord Barkers reputation.", I berated with a stern look.

"Improprieties? Not at all, my friend.", Holmes eyes twinkled merrily, which made me think, that yet again, he knew something no one else knew. "You remember my going over and talking to Lord Barker yesterday?"

I nodded.

"Do you remember me suggesting a drink?"

I thought hard and finally nodded again. Holmes, Miss Calendar and Lord Barker had detached themselves from the group of young ladies to take a drink at a table.

"When you finish your glass, you will tip your head back quite far, am I correct?"

"Holmes, I fail to see how that is in any form relevant to your accusation!", said I, getting quite impatient. Looking back now, I fear, that my Hallward-like infatuation with the young man let me defend him harsher, than I would have another.

"Tut! There is no accusation. I do not accuse!", he raised a reprimanding eyebrow at me. "And as to the relevancy of finishing your glass: When the Lord tipped back his head, he gave me a perfectly good look at the column of his throat, like so.", he took his nigh-empty glass of water, tipped his head back and finished it. Even with his high collar and cravat, I could clearly see his Adams apple move.

"Did you observe?", my friend asked and with a long slender finger tipped against his throat.

"Do you mean", I cried, astonished "that you did not see an Adams apple?"

Holmes nodded appreciatively.

"So the Lord is no Lord at all, but a Lady!"

"Your deductive qualities develop quite nicely, Watson."

"But why?", I threw up my hand. There was no doubt in my mind, that what my friend said was true, but I could for the life of me, not understand.

"That, my dear Watson, is the great mystery of the beautiful Lord.", the fire, that had possessed Holmes was rare as it was, but connected to a woman, I had seen it only once.

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Sooo, a short one, but the next two or three are already done :)

Please, please review!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Christine Calendar is to William Barker, what Watson is to Holmes, or something like that at least :) She documents her life with the young Lady, that poses as a man in her diary and most of the Barker-chapters will be written by her, as most of the Holmes-chapters will be written by Watson.

Some chapters will be in third person, as there is no other way besides letting Holmes and Barker narrate their own stories, and I don't want that :)

So, here is Christine's first entry :) Have fun, hope you like the girls!

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It was customary for William not to stay very long at social events. For my friend to stay for more than two hours was rare, so I was quite surprised, that she entertained Mr. Holmes as long as she had.

He was quite a fascinating man and I could see, that my dear friend was quite smitten with him.

At the morning after the ball, I found her sitting by the window, clad in only her trousers and shirt, reading the papers.

"Good morning, William.", though I was quite aware of her true name, we had agreed upon me using the man's name.

"Ah, Christine.", she smiled at me in that peculiar fashion, that set my stomach aflutter. I know quite well, that my attraction to my friend is very wrong, by my heart obviously insists upon seeing her as the man she poses to be. "Did you sleep well?", somehow, she sounded just a little distracted.

"I did.", answered I, sitting down at the breakfast-table. "And you?"

William put down her paper and looked at me with knitted brows. "We did not come about Mr. Holmes by chance."

I poured tea for both of us. "How do you know?"

"I fear, I brought his interest upon myself with the unfortunate incident with Miss Bishop.", she joined me at the table. "He is known to solve whatever mystery he has set his mind to."

"Oh!", I put my hand to my lips. "Do you think he suspects?"

"Mhh, I quite fear he knows.", she sighed and took a sip of her tea.

"What do you intend to do about that?", I asked, shocked at her obvious lack of action.

"Why, nothing of course!", she said, putting down her cup with a little to much force. The delicate porcelain gave a painful clanking noise.

"But, William!", I half rose from my seat. "What if he tells?"

"I reckon he won't.", she shrugged nonchalantly and took up her cup again. Over the rim, she uttered: "I rather think, we will see him here, before long."

Again a very short one, but I hope to be updating daily, so you will not have to wait for too long.

Did you like it? Review!


	4. Chapter 4

First: I am sorry for the delay. I have a very cool, but tiresome workshop going at the moment, which keeps me more busy, than I would have thought.

Now, on with the show, this time with a longer chapter. The first part is told by Watson, the second is third person.

As always: Holmes and Watson belong to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Thank you for reading and reviewing, you are great

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Mary had waited up for me this evening, in the hopes of hearing the new developments of our case.

She had always taken an interest in my adventures with Sherlock Holmes not only because it was one of those adventures, that brought us together.

This case however seemed to be of special interest to her, since she had heard a lot about Lord William Barker.

It was quite a predicament she put me in with her questions.

"Oh, please, tell me, John.", she begged, her beautiful eyes alight with curiosity.

"Mary, my sweet.", I sighed. "I do not know if I can tell you. There is a secret, that is not mine to tell."

"Is there a hidden love affair?", she asked eagerly. "Maybe with the mysterious woman?"

I laughed in good humour. "No, no such thing."

"Is it something sinister?", my wife asked, her face set in a grave way.

"Not, that I can tell.", I sighed. "I will tell you, what I think I can, but under one condition, that you wont tell another soul!"

Mary nodded. "My lips are sealed, but now tell me."

The Lord is not exactly who he pretends to be.", I began, holding my finger to my wife's lips, when she drew a breath to say something. "I do not know, why, but he meant no harm to our client.

"Will you keep with the case?", she asked, curiosity piqued even further.

"I think Holmes will. He is quite interested in the Lord."

Elegantly my wife hid a small yawn behind her hand. "I would wish, that Mr. Holmes would show the same interest and energy towards a woman.", she got up and held out her small hand.

"I cannot, but agree, my sweet.", said I, taking her hand and leading her to our bedroom.

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Sherlock Holmes did not sleep that night.

Three pipes would not do for the problem of the beautiful Lord, it was quite the bit more complex.

He had come to the conclusion, by four o'clock the following morning, that at first, the father had forced the young girl into the role of a boy, but why had she not changed that after her fathers death?

By six o'clock, he had decided to go and see the Lady and by 8 o'clock he was in a hansom in his way to the Barker family's city home.

The door was opened by an elderly butler, who raised his bushy white eyebrows questioningly. "Yes?"

Holmes raised his own brows disapprovingly but otherwise ignored the rude behaviour. "Good morning. I would very much like to see the Lady of the house, if she will have me.", he bowed slightly and was let in without a word.

The hall was furnished comfortably, but not overly expensive. Holmes took of his hat and waited, when the butler left wordlessly for a door down the hall.

Bright sunshine was coming through the opening and painted a golden square on the lush carpet.

The light on the step was disturbed by a pair of leather riding boots.

"Good morning, Mr. Holmes.", silhouetted against the morning sun stood William Barker. "We where quite expecting you.", she stood aside and motioned him into the room. "Here, let me have your coat and hat."

Holmes was quite aware of his rudeness in not greeting the Lady, but he contented himself in studying her. Black hair tied back in a scarlet ribbon, green eyes twinkling at him with intelligence and curiosity. The sharp angle of her haw and straight line of her nose weighed out the soft, full lines of her lips and feminine high cheekbones. Overall the picture of androgynous beauty. The white loose shirt hid any curves, but the open collar and lack of cravat showed the treacherous neck.

Her light-brown riding-breaches fit perfectly, the work of a skilled tailor, though it did accentuate her womanly hips a little.

"Are you quite finished with you assessment?", asked Barker, mirth in her warm voice.

"Yes, I have quite satisfied myself.", answered he and handed her his coat and hat.

"You should be more careful with your tobacco.", she told him and placed his belongings on a settee. Her words brought Holmes attention from his careful examination of the bright, open drawing-room they where standing in, back to his hostess.

She answered his questioning glance with an inviting gesture towards a small table, set for three. "You dropped some. There are traces on your trousers."

Quickly he glanced down and indeed found some brown tobacco-flakes on the inside of his turn-up. He had during the night balanced his pipe on his knee and spilled some tobacco.

"A friend lost his grip on his box.", he answered her in a challenge and sat down opposite her at the table.

"Tut, tut, Mr. Holmes.", she raised a reprimanding finger. "As brilliant a detective, as bad a liar you are.", Barker poured tea in all three cups and looked up.

"Ah, Christine, dear.", the smile she send across his shoulder made his breath catch just the slightest.

He turned and saw Miss Calendar coming towards them, wearing a lovely, dark blue riding-dress.

"Good morning, William, Mr. Holmes.", the girl smiled shyly, but did not seem surprised at all.

"Good morning to you, too, Miss Calendar.", he stood and nodded his greeting.

Settled back at the table, Lady Barker resumed her reasoning. "It is very unlikely, that tobacco could have gotten, where it has, if someone other than yourself had dropped it. I am in the habit of sitting crosslegged myself, when in need of a good think."

Holmes was, to say the least impressed. "You have a good eye, Lady Barker.", deliberately he put some emphasis on the female address. Miss Calendar hesitated ever so slightly in raising her cup, but the Lady seemed unphased.

"Would you have been less impressed, if I was a genuine man?", she asked, taking a bit of her omelette in her mouth.

"Less, to be perfectly honest.", a smile crossed his features in a flicker. "I often find women to be much more observant, than men. Your reasoning, however is quite rare among men and women equally."

The breakfast passed in stimulation conversation between Holmes and Barker, while Miss Calendar was observing them with keen interest.

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That's that. Not sure, where and how this is going to go exactly. Well, I have a goal and a few landmarks, but everything in between will be a surprise, even to me.

I have four more chapters done, already, working on more.

Reviews would be much appreciated :)


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